EVGA GeForce RTX 3080 FTW3 10GB GDDR6X Black

The EVGA GeForce RTX 3080 FTW3 is a used graphics card that still delivers excellent 1440p gaming performance and strong compute power for creative work. At $540-$650 it's a genuine bargain, but the 10GB VRAM and 320W power draw are real limitations. Skip it if you're paying more than $700 or planning to game at 4K with maxed textures.

The raw numbers tell a good story here. The RTX 3080 FTW3 puts up a PassMark G3D score of 25,003, which lands it in the 66th percentile for rasterization across all GPUs in our database. That's solid, middle-of-the-pack territory when you're comparing against everything from budget cards to the latest RTX 50-series monsters. In practice, you're looking at a card that chews through 1440p gaming without breaking a sweat and can absolutely handle 4K if you're willing to lean on DLSS in heavier titles.

Compute performance is where this card really shines. With 30.64 TFLOPS of FP32 throughput, it sits in the 77th percentile for compute, which makes it a surprisingly capable option for creative workloads like Blender renders or video editing. The 912 GB/s memory bandwidth from that 320-bit bus keeps things moving. But the AI and LLM side is a different story. At the 53rd percentile for AI workloads, and with only 10GB of VRAM, this isn't the card you want for running large language models locally. It'll do it, but you'll hit memory walls fast. Power draw is also a consideration. The 320W TDP puts it in the 33rd percentile for efficiency, which means it's a hungry card. You'll want a solid 750W power supply and three available 8-pin PCIe connectors.

Stacked against the newer competition, the RTX 3080 FTW3 is in a weird spot. The MSI Ventus RTX 5070 Ti 16G VENTUS 3X PZ OC absolutely demolishes it in raw performance and doubles the VRAM, but you're also paying new-card money for that privilege. The ASUS PRIME RTX 5080 and Gigabyte AORUS RTX 5080 are in a completely different league, both in performance and price. If you're shopping used, the real question is whether this EVGA card at $540-$650 makes more sense than a used RTX 4070 or even a discounted RTX 3080 Ti.

The ZOTAC APOCALYPSE RTX 5080 is another one that makes the 3080 look dated on paper, but again, the price gap is enormous. What the EVGA has going for it is that it's available right now at a price that doesn't require selling a kidney. The Sapphire NITRO+ is an AMD option that trades blows in rasterization but falls behind in ray tracing. For pure value in the used market, this FTW3 is hard to beat if you can find it under $600. Above that, you should probably start looking at newer options.

Pricing on this card is all over the place. In the US, we're seeing listings ranging from $540 to $999, which is a massive spread for what should be the same product. The lower end of that range is where this card makes sense. At $540, you're getting a lot of GPU for the money, especially if you're coming from something like a GTX 1060 or RTX 2060. At $999, you're dangerously close to newer cards that outperform it while drawing less power. The Amazon Renewed listings tend to sit at the higher end, while the refurbished Newegg option is where you'll find the better deal. If you're in Canada, the $650 CAD listing is actually pretty reasonable compared to what these cards were going for during the GPU shortage. Just remember you're buying a used card either way, so factor in the warranty situation before you commit.

The EVGA GeForce RTX 3080 FTW3 Ultra Gaming sits in that interesting spot where last-gen flagship performance meets the refurbished market. It's a 10GB GDDR6X card built on the Ampere architecture, and while it's not the newest thing on the shelf, it still packs 8704 CUDA cores and a 1800MHz boost clock. We're looking at a card that originally launched as a high-end 4K gaming option, now showing up as an Amazon Renewed or refurbished unit at prices that swing pretty wildly depending on where you look.

If you're searching for a used RTX 3080 that can still handle modern games at 1440p and even 4K with some settings tweaks, this EVGA model is one of the more interesting options out there. The FTW3 variant was always EVGA's premium air-cooled design, with the iCX3 cooling system and a chunky 2.75-slot footprint. It's long at 300mm, so you'll want to check your case clearance before pulling the trigger.

For ray tracing and DLSS, this card still holds up surprisingly well. It scores in the 74th percentile for ray tracing performance in our database, which means it's not going to embarrass itself against newer mid-range cards. The 10GB of VRAM is the main limitation here, especially if you're eyeing 4K textures in newer titles. But for most people shopping in this price bracket, it's a solid entry point into high-refresh 1440p gaming.

If you're building a compact ITX system, this card's 300mm length and 2.75-slot width will rule out a lot of smaller cases. 4K gamers who want to max out texture settings in the latest AAA titles should also look elsewhere, the 10GB VRAM buffer is already showing its age. Anyone running AI workloads or local LLMs should skip this entirely and look at cards with 16GB or more VRAM. And if you're the type who wants a full manufacturer warranty, a refurbished card with limited coverage probably isn't your best move. In those cases, a used RTX 4070 Ti or a discounted RTX 4070 Super makes more sense.

Should you buy the EVGA RTX 3080 FTW3 in 2025? If you can snag one for $540-$650 and you're gaming at 1440p, absolutely. It's still a fantastic card for that resolution, and DLSS keeps it relevant in newer titles that would otherwise punish the 10GB VRAM limit. The build quality on the FTW3 is genuinely excellent, and the iCX3 cooler does a great job keeping the 320W heat output under control.

But if you're paying $800 or more, stop. At that point you're better off saving a bit more for a used RTX 4070 Ti or waiting for a deal on something newer. The 10GB VRAM is the elephant in the room, and it's only going to become more of a bottleneck as games push higher-resolution textures. For 1080p and 1440p gamers on a budget, this is still a killer card. For 4K enthusiasts or anyone who wants to keep their GPU for more than a couple years, the VRAM ceiling is a real concern.